The Lernaean Hydra Picture

Echidna merged a Predacon protoform with five blanks, in an attempt to create a Predacon six-times larger and more powerful than the average Cybertronian. Compared to previous attempts to create an ultra class Predacon, this one was successful, yielding a powerful and fully functioning warrior.

The experiment wasnt without its shortcomings, however. Although merged, each protoform spawned a neck and head of its own, essentially resulting in six giant snake-like creatures fused together about a third of the length down their body. This truly makes the Lernaean Hydra a terrifying sight to behold, but also makes him awkward on land, unable to move as quickly as his snake-like alternate mode should have allowed him to.

Nevertheless, he has found a role well suited for his design. The Hydra guards the underwater entrance to the Predacons base under Mt. Aetna. Deep in the darkness of a nearby swamp, he glides through the shallow water, which itself has been poisoned by the pollutants his artificially fused body produces. With the buoyancy provided by the water lending him greater agility, he is more than a match for even the most powerful Maximal.

Strengths: The modifications Echidna made as part of the fusing process have made the Lernaean Hydra a slithering poison factory. The breath from his many mouths is corrosive, weakening or even eating through metal and other materials altogether, and his vital mech-fluids are extremely poisonous, posing a significant danger to anyone who actually wounds him. The excretions of his body have even poisoned the swamp in which he dwells, rendering the water toxic and perversely mutating the plant and animal life that lives in it.

In combat, the Lernaean Hydra prefers to use his numerous coils to crush enemies. He has often sprung from hiding to catch an unwary intruder in one of his monstrous mouths and wrap around them, dragging them into the noisome water to see if they drown or pop first. This same approach to combat applies in robot mode as well, where all but two of his heads and necks become his arms. In robot mode, he is also more agile on land.

Perhaps his most unexpected feature is his impressive regenerative ability. Study indicates that his spark is securely incased in one of his six heads, and so long as that head remains attached to his body, he can recover from catastrophic damage. In fact, if another of his heads is severed, two may grow back in its place.

The Lernaean Hydra keeps a small crustacean-like drone called Cancer (known as Anklebiter among the other Predacons). The drone skitters quietly through the shadows of the swamp, constantly on the look out for intruders, acting as a pair of remote-eyes for its master. Cancer transforms into a flachette cannon.

Weaknesses: On land, The Lernaean Hydra is only formidable in his robot-mode, which is vulnerable to Energon overload. Fire is a serious danger for him, as burns do not heal without the intervention of a CR Chamber. Outside of his pet, Cancer, he has little ranged weaponry.